Whistler seeks to shorten Sea to Sky Highway closures from accidents

Debris litters the Sea to Sky Highway north of Lions Bay in West Vancouver on February 22, 2012. The Resort Municipality of Whistler wants to reduce road closure times after accidents.Wayne Leidenfrost / PNG

Resort Municipality of Whistler mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden can’t put a dollar value on the cost of such closures — which, depending on the severity and type of accident, can last from three to six hours or even longer — but said they’re seriously hurting the resort’s economy.

“It causes significant economic damage to the resort,” said Wilhelm-Morden, speaking of her plan to improve safety and reduce road closure times. “We’ve only got one road in and out of town (Highway 99), so when there’s closures with major delays it requires additional time for people on the highway.

“There’s missed flights, missed appointments, or people just turning around after a five-hour closure,” she said, noting the resort generates $1.53 billion annually in provincial GDP.

Wilhelm-Morden said that due to the highway’s accidents, heavy snowfall and other potential hazards, major delays and complete road closures can require many more driving hours for motorists.

As such, the municipality has issued a request for proposals seeking a consultant to advise on how to better manage accident-related closures and delays between Horseshoe Bay and Whistler’s Village Gate Boulevard.

According to the municipal plan, the consultant will examine where accidents on the highway have occurred over the last three to five years, review accident management on other highways to determine best practices in accident management, compare the economic losses in extended highway delays and closures and assess emergency resources available to respond to Sea to Sky Highway accidents.

Wilhelm-Morden said that it may make sense to have traffic accident analysts stationed closer to Whistler, rather than being flown in from elsewhere to the accident scene.

The municipality’s RFP closes Nov. 15 and results won’t be available for three to six months.

After that, recommendations will be forwarded to other towns in the corridor and the transportation ministry.

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